Should Have Told Me
by kerali
Summary: Veronica gets the best present from Lilly after Lilly finds out her secret. Originally written and posted on AO3 for the Veronica Mars Holiday Fic Grab Bag.


A/N: I originally posted this story on AO3 for the Veronica Mars Holiday Fic Grab Bag.

 _Kane Christmas preparation_

"God Lilly, how much mistletoe are you going to put up?" Veronica watches nervously as Lilly tapes yet another piece over a doorway in her master plan to seduce Logan Echolls, again.

"As much as it takes. I just need one chance to kiss him and he'll never want to resist me. I'm in ninth grade now Veronica, I need to claim my boyfriend and it needs to be someone with status. And how great will it be when Duncan gets his head out of his ass and makes his move on you, then we'll all be inseparable."

"And why can't you just ask him out again?"

"I'm the woman, he needs to be a man and pursue me."

"So you have to seduce him into pursuing you?"

"Exactly! You'll learn yet."

"Fine Lil, but I can't take watching you on that step-stool all day, I'm going to your room."

She hates to leave Lilly on her own, but at least she talked her out of using the stapler to put them up, so she's pretty sure she won't get hurt with tape and a step ladder. She's tired of hearing about Logan, all the time, and wishes that he would just go out with her already so they could all move on.

Lilly thought she had him when they made out at a party over the summer. Veronica missed it but got the recap, in detail. Logan was completely wasted and he and Lilly made out. Actually, they more than made out until one of her father's deputies crashed and interrupted Lilly kneeling in front of him in the process of unzipping his pants.

She didn't see Logan for several weeks after that, which was thankfully almost enough time for her to get the visual out of her head, and then school was starting. Lilly was certain they were going to be the ' _it'_ couple of the underclassmen, even if Logan wasn't at the high school yet, but he was whisked away to go to his father's set with his mom after the deputy dropped him off and told his parents the whole sordid tale. He wouldn't talk to her or Lilly while he was away, and barely spoke to Duncan, and when he came back he kept turning down Lilly.

She has tried various plans to seduce him this year, but he keeps making out with other girls, but never too far and stays away from her. He still spends the night at the Kane house, and will again tonight and she really hopes they just get it over with.

Except that she doesn't. Lilly has this grand plan of ruling high school with Logan as her partner and Veronica right next to her. Her own status solidified by dating Duncan, who is nice, and ok. But it's really Logan that catches her eye, makes her stomach turn flips, who's kiss during spin the bottle a few weeks ago made her light headed. But that just seems to be him, all the girls love him, and it's that same thing that probably makes him perfect for Lilly. She decides to push those thoughts away, they will lead her nowhere good, and take a nap before Lilly is back and making her get ready for the Kane holiday party that she was actually invited to this year.

* * *

 _Kane Christmas Party_

Veronica is wandering around the party, looking for Lilly, again. Or maybe Lilly finally caught Logan and they went off somewhere. Logan seems to have caught on to Lilly's plan pretty quickly and has been effective at dodging her, but not obviously all night. He seems to have figured out which door ways are safe, and has kept Lilly at a distance all night. He's even checking rooms before he enters to see if she's around. She almost caught him once by hiding behind a doorway, but he saw her reflection in a mirror across the room and back tracked.

Veronica has been watching them with limited amusement all night, playing her own avoidance game with Duncan. He been weird all night, coming up to her, and staring, but not saying anything before he mumbles and backs off, only to stare at her from a distance. She thinks he's working towards asking her out, but she doesn't know what she would say if he did. She sees Lilly talking to one of her classmates, Casey or something, and goes back towards the kitchen to try to find more food. She hears her name being whispered from the library and turns to see Logan standing just inside the door waving her over.

She walks over and when she gets closer he says, still in a whisper, "Is it safe?"

She nods and says "Yeah, she in the dining hall talking to Casey."

He smiles at her and says "Great" as he reaches out his hand to her. On reflex she takes his hand and lets him pulls her to the library until she is just inside the door. He stops her there and points up. She looks up and sees mistletoe, hung inside the doorway so you can't see it from outside. When she looks down, Logan has moved closer and he pauses to see what she does. She knows she should move back, but she wants this and moves forward slightly. Logan catches her eye and leans down to kiss her lips gently.

He hasn't grown a ton yet, but he still has several inches on her, so she pushes up on her toes to return his kiss. His arms reach around her and pull her body against him and she feels his tongue lick her lip. She opens cautiously and new sensations rush through her. It's so much more, even better than what they had at that party and she realizes that he must have been holding back.

His body is firm against hers and his hands drift down to her hips as they pull back and catch their breath. Her hands end up resting on his chest as she closes her eyes. She looks at him again when he places his hand on her cheek and looks worried. "Was that okay?"

"Yeah, good, it was good." She can't fully form sentences yet and is still processing what just happened when he gets her attention again by kissing her briefly on the lips.

"Do you want to go out with me?"

He looks nervous and she is stunned. She knew from their previous kiss that they had chemistry, but she never expected this. "No, God we can't do this."

"What do you mean, will your dad not be ok with it?"

"Not my dad, well I mean he wouldn't be thrilled, but what about Lilly. Your supposed to be with Lilly. She's been trying to get you to ask _her_ out, not me. She'll hate me."

"Veronica, I don't want to date Lilly, I want to date you. But if you're not ready, I can wait. Just think about it ok?" He cups her cheek and brushes her lips with his thumb in what may be the sexiest move she's ever seen, at least until he leans down and kisses her next to her ear as he whispers.

"Merry Christmas Veronica"

She just nods in return as he leaves the library and heads to the bedrooms, probably to Duncan's room where he is staying tonight. She follows him in that direction as well to Lilly's room. She can't face the party and needs to be convincing that she's asleep before Lilly is back to avoid dealing with her as well.

* * *

 _New Year's Eve_

Veronica is enjoying the night, even if she and Logan have been reminded several times by Celeste that they are to stay out of the main party area. While not exactly a warm host, the sitting area of the yard off to the side of the pool has been decorated with twinkling lights and they have been kept stocked with more teen friendly snacks than what the grown ups are having and the fire pit is going in front of them.

This is the first time she's been over since she ditched Lilly the morning after her family Christmas party and her forbidden kiss with Logan. They didn't even exchange presents yet, but decided to do that after midnight tonight instead of the kissing. She's relieved and the night has been better than expected.

Lilly and Logan are getting along better than they ever have, with snarky comments, but not the constant innuendo that Lilly had been making. She also hasn't been physically all over him and flirting at every moment like she had been. They have been sitting next to each other and whispering on occasion, so maybe they are together now and they don't want to tell everyone yet.

The only way that makes sense though is if Logan told Lilly about their kiss at Christmas. She hopes that's not it because she doesn't need that thrown in her face for years to come. It was probably the one real moment she'll have with him and she wants to keep it private, just for her, but maybe he didn't feel the same.

He's been attentive to her as usual, but it's like he's keeping his distance. He's never been that way with anyone. He's always fidgeting or touching something, but not with her tonight. No flipping her hair, poking her side, brushing her hand when he hands her anything, just hands off.

She knows that she was right to turn him down, but this isn't what she wanted. There's nothing to do about it now and everything else is great, so why push the issue. Actually, Duncan is still being weird, but they're mostly ignoring him.

They're all laughing at Logan's story and Celeste comes out and tells Lilly and Duncan to come inside. It must be close to midnight and this was the deal. They could have their friends spend the night, but they have to be inside for a little bit before the countdown. She's surprised when Lilly takes the lead to listen to her mother.

"Come on Donut, time to go inside."

"This is so stupid, Mom, why can't we stay out here with out friends. I don't want to go inside, you're ruining my freaking night."

Veronica, Logan and Lilly all look at him shocked since that's the most he's said all night. Celeste glares at him before telling him bluntly, "Get inside now."

He turns towards the house and stomps off and Lilly calls after him "God Donut, be more of a cry baby."

Celeste actually just smiles at her and says "You have one minute or I come back."

"Thanks Mom."

Veronica isn't sure if she's more surprised at Duncan's tantrum or Lilly and Celeste being reasonable and polite. She doesn't know if she woke up in an alternate reality, but something definitely isn't right. She stopped watching Lilly until she starts shaking a box in front of her face. "Hey, V'ronica, open your present while I'm gone okay. Trust me, you'll love it."

"Sure Lil, is everything ok?"

"Everything is great V, or it will be. See you two in a bit!" She winks at Logan who blushes and grins back at her as she flounces off to go inside and reaches the glass doors as her mom was about to come outside.

Veronica starts opening her present and trying not to look at Logan. She knew they would be alone at some point like this, but preferred to pretend like it wouldn't really happen. Maybe Lilly knew she would need something to do right now, but that goes back to Lilly knowing about the kiss and she doesn't want to think of that.

She pulls out of the box a framed picture of her and Logan taken at the party where they first kissed. It's a good picture with Veronica and him leaning against the wall facing each other with big smiles on their face. She doesn't get why Lilly gave this to her.

She hears Logan next to her and she realizes he must have moved to sit next to her. He is saying, "read the card".

She looks at him briefly and he is smiling at her and points to the Christmas card that was sitting under the picture. She sits the box and he picture on the seat next to her to read the card.

Instead of the usual funny card, it's blank inside except for what Lilly wrote.

"Merry Christmas Veronica I'm giving you Logan for Christmas because I know you won't give him a chance unless I tell you it's ok. You should have told me you liked him and I would have moved on a long time ago. I also would have noticed, had I seen you two like this, that you're crazy about each other. Be selfish sometimes. Love you like a sister, Lilly".

She looks back at the picture and they are mirroring each other's pose. One hand nervously tucked in a pocket, their other hands hanging against the wall they were leaning their shoulder against, but their fingers reaching out and barely touching while they talked. She remembers the time frame if not the exact moment and it was about an hour before their kiss. She was ignoring her feelings, but looking back, that moment felt electric. She doesn't know who took the picture, but she is thankful they did.

She turns to Logan since he seems to be in on this to ask, "How did she know?"

He looks at his watch, and says "Can I tell you a story?" She nods, so he continues.

"So, this summer I was hanging out with this awesome girl and was thinking that maybe when school started back, I might ask her out." She assumes he's talking about Lilly and looks down until he catches her chin with his finger and gets her to look at him.

"You, silly, not Lilly. Now, let me finish my story, I think you'll like it."

She nods at him to continue, so he starts back, "Anyway, so there's this awesome girl and a few weeks before school starts, my best friend tells me that he likes her and is going to ask her out. Now I know that there's no way I could compete with him, he's a much better guy after all, so I feel lost. I get completely wasted at this party because my girl isn't there, and neither is he, so my mind goes crazy thinking about what happened. I end up making out with my girl's best friend who I've been trying to ignore for a while, but it's easy, and I'm feeling sorry for myself. Thankfully, a friendly deputy interrupts us before we go too far and drags my sorry ass home where he tells my parents what's going on, so then I'm in trouble. They were… angry… to say the least, especially my dad. But thankfully I'm grounded for a bit and I can get my shit together.

"I talk to my best friend you see, and find out that he was actually sick, and my girl was home with her family. I know I won't see them for a while, and I need to figure out what I'm going to do, so I just sit back and wait until school starts to see how things are. But then, the other girl, that was a moment of weakness, won't leave me alone, and the girl I want can't look at me. So I avoid one and watch the other as my best friend just gets increasingly weird around this girl and can't even talk to her, let alone ask her out. I start to think that maybe if they just went out, I could move on, but I'm stuck. I don't want anyone else, but try everything to get the other girl to leave me alone, even making out with a few random girls at parties when I can't get away from her.

"Nothing is happening though, so I start to push my girl to pay attention to me, to talk to me. I was thinking that maybe I would be able to figure out if she really likes my friend or what. The more I talk though, the more I want her for myself. Then it happens. It was a stupid game of spin the bottle and her turn landed on me. The kiss was the best thing I had ever experienced, and from that moment I knew I didn't want to kiss anyone else. I got up right after to avoid embarrassing myself, but I knew something had to change. I waited for my moment to make some kind of move, then I had it.

"See, I went to this Christmas party and saw mistletoe from almost every door and realized, thankfully pretty early, that this other girl was trying to trap me. I decided early on to trap my girl instead and took a piece down. I had to find the perfect spot that I could catch her for a moment and not be caught by our friends. I managed to catch her, and we kissed, and it was like fate.

"I was pretty disappointed that she didn't want to go out with me, but I also realized that it was mostly because her friend was chasing me. She just didn't realized that I liked her. I didn't want to be with her friend, someone who liked me more for my parents status, and I knew my girl was different in the best ways and just liked me.

"The other girl turned out to be pretty easy to deal with. The next day I just told her that I was never going to go for her and that I asked her best friend out. She was pretty shocked at first, but when I told her that her best friend turned me down because she had this crazy idea that me and this other girl should be together, she said 'Well that's the stupidest shit I've ever heard', and I had to agree. She told me not to worry and that she would make sure I had a chance to plead my case without her or her brother causing us problems. So, here we are."

Veronica has been looking at him and he's been alternating between holding her hands with his, and making big gestures, and mimicking Lilly's voice, but now he's still. He takes her hands with his again and looks in her eyes for a moment before saying, "Ok, at risk of being turned down twice, would you go out with me, be my girlfriend?"

"Yeah, I'd like that." She blushes and smiles at him and he responds perfectly by kissing her.

It's several minutes later that Lilly comes back to find them with arms wrapped around each other and so caught up in each other that they don't even see her. She throws one glass of champagne on them to get their attention and they look up shocked, but not entirely letting go.

"Yay, finally, it worked." She's jumping up and down until one of the other glasses spills a little and she realizes she meant to have them make a toast. She hands out the other three glasses, having thrown Duncan's on them, and makes them toast to their new relationship. She lets them know that she told Duncan after they went inside and apparently they messed up his plans to kiss Veronica at midnight, so he's sulking.

They sit and talk for another hour with Veronica curled up next to Logan before he gives her a kiss goodnight and goes to check on Duncan.

The last thing Lilly tells her before they fall asleep, is "Should have just told me V."

A/N: Grab Bag Fic Prompts:

13\. Lilly gives Logan to Veronica as a Christmas present.

21\. Veronica and Logan's first kiss happens under the mistletoe. Someone else (Duncan, Lilly, or another person) tried to put it up to catch either Logan or Veronica, but it backfires when it gets Logan and Veronica together instead.

43\. Pre-series New Year's Eve celebration with the fabulous four at the Kane House where they are having a party as well. Celeste makes Duncan and Lilly come inside, but doesn't allow Logan and Veronica who end up kissing each other at midnight.


End file.
